Boehner Says GOP Finally Gets It

When stumping for Republican House hopeful Allen West in Florida today, House Minority Whip John Boehner told the audience that Republicans will do an about face if allowed to govern Washington in 2011 with a majority in Congress. He said the party finally understands that they spent too much money and grew government under Bush and would not repeat past mistakes. To prove his point, Boehner says he will propose a spending cut every week he is speaker. 

Boehner's comments gel with the recent "Pledge to America" the party rolled out last month. "In the pledge, Republicans propose cutting spending by repealing the Democrats' healthcare law, instituting budget caps, reforming government-controlled housing lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, cutting non-discretionary spending to 2008 levels and canceling future TARP payments."

West, a newcomer and fiery addition to the GOP who spoke after Boehner, stated that he would "hold [Boehner's] feet to the fire" on his pledge to cut spending. He believes the GOP doesn't need gimmicks and paper promises to do what is absolutely necessary for the country's survival and he has no problem saying it. I love his straight-forward, take no prisoners approach and hope that he beats his opponent Klein, in November. We need more like him.  

Dem's Election Tampering

Apparently there have been accusations that Democratic operatives have backed faux tea party candidates in an effort to pull votes away from Republican challengers. Now it seems they finally have proof of the election scam in New Jersey’s Third Congressional race. A local paper reported that Democratic Congressman John Adler's staff, with the help of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, hatched a plan to steal votes from Republican, and former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman, Jon Runyan.

All they had to do to get a random Mount Laurel woman on the ballot as the “New Jersey tea party” candidate, was to collect 100 votes. With another conservative on the ballot in a tight race, the Dems hoped to confuse voters and lessen Runyan’s support to try to hold onto the seat.      

I hope they expose these pathetic schemes in every district and the press continues to report them since all it will do is fire up already overly enthusiastic GOP voters.

Angle Now Ahead by Four

Republican Sharron Angle is now leading Harry Reid by four points in Nevada's senate race. More importantly, the Rasmussen poll has her finally over the 50% mark, while Reid has 46% of the vote. Two percent prefer some other candidate and 2% are undecided. 

Just a week ago, Angle was besting Reid for the first time since polling began, but only by a point. Before that, the race was tied. This is the widest margin of separation between the pair since Angle stepped into the race. 

The poll has a 95% level of confidence, which means Reid will probably step up his attack ads, but what more can he say this late in the game? I hope he doesn't have an ace in the hole. If not, Angle will win this race. 

More Bad Economic News for the Dems

Jobs slipped again in September to levels that were even worse than expected. Private employers cut 39,000 jobs after a gain of 10,000 in August. Analysts expected the private sector to only cut 24,000 jobs, but they were once again wrong.

This could not be welcomed news for Democrats, who are hoping for anything to stop the bleeding during this campaign season in which the pollsters are predicting a donkey thrashing. 

President Christie?

Why is Chris Christie teasing us? He insists he will not run for president in 2012, but he keeps making fantastic speeches in battleground states like Iowa. Last night in front of conservative activists he touted his success in deep blue NJ and advocated his brand of conservatism in Washington. He said that his "tough-talking, smaller government message resonates with all voters" and should be adopted by all the Republican winners in November, especially since his approval rating has jumped ten points since he took office. 

He also urged Republicans to "deliver on their conservative promises if they gain power" because if they don't, the people will banish Republicans "to the wilderness...for a long, long time." He suggested that voters will accept tough cuts in programs and a tightening of the purse strings of government spending "as long as they know the pain is being spread equally." 

He continued, "We lost our way a number of years ago, and we became tax and spend light. "Less spending, smaller government, less regulation, smaller government — we're going to be all about that again. We have to step up and stand for those principles again."

Obviously, as a northern Republican, Christie argues that the GOP should focus on fiscal conservatism, rather than social issues. And right now, he's particularly right. However, I can see Christie at the top of the ticket with a more socially conservative running mate like Pawlenti on the ticket in 2012. I know he insists he won't, but a girl can dream.

Sore Losers

Doesn't everyone hate sore losers? Why do politicians think they are exempt from this time-honored rule? Gore made a spectacle of himself in 2000 refusing to accept defeat. He transformed his entire party into sour puss losers by example by constantly insinuating that he would have won if the GOP wouldn't have cheated.

It's been a while, but now that we have another anti-establishment election year, we have more babies losing elections and crying about it. First we had Mikulski in Alaska, and now we have Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian in Nevada. Apparently, this guy, like Mikulski, cares a lot more about himself than his party's ideals. Like Mikulski, he decided to wite himself onto the ballot, but he went further. Apparently, he secretly recorded and leaked a conversation with Republican senate candidate Sharron Angle wherein she asks him to step aside.

Besides being selfish, this tape recording was boneheaded. Who cares if Angle asked him to step aside?  Who wouldn't do the same in her shoes? If Angle loses, it won't be due to Ashjian, but it sure doesn't do much for the cause.

Rossi Now Beating Gubment Lifer Pat Murray

Incumbent Democratic Senator Patty Murray is now a point behind her Republican challenger, Dino Rossi, in Washington state’s race for the Senate. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll has Rossi picking up 48%, while Murray gets 47% of the vote, 2% prefer some other candidate and 3% are undecided. 

Just two weeks ago, Murray held a 51% to 46% lead and prior to this, the candidates were within two points of each other. These more distant polls gave the impression that Murray would handily win, but now that supposition has proven very tenuous. And if Ann Coulter's piece http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=39211 were required reading, Rossi would push past 50% quite easily. Apparently, she's said quite boneheaded things in the past.  For instance, after 9/11, Murray said this about Osama bin Laden:

He's been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day-care facilities, building health-care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. He's made their lives better.

Whah?  I hope we hear more from her in the next month.